


Background Information

by Magi Silverwolf (Magi_Silverwolf)



Series: The Purpose of Aeries [12]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Canon Jewish Character, Gen, Meta, Military, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-25 04:56:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21350581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magi_Silverwolf/pseuds/Magi%20Silverwolf
Summary: This is the explanation for my personal headcanons that is referenced in various pieces. It is also where I put explanation of things I'm pulling from the various parts of the MCU that people may be unfamiliar with.
Series: The Purpose of Aeries [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/936192
Comments: 15
Kudos: 199





	1. The Bucky Exception

**Author's Note:**

> I still haven't managed to find a place get this information into the fic itself, so I've written this in lieu of repeating myself in comments.

History lesson: there was once the absolutely revolting policy of dishonorably discharging US military personnel even _suspected_ of homosexuality. Literally, an accusation was enough to get someone dishonorably discharged or at least discharged without honor (two different things, though the end result is still not being qualified for veteran benefits). There was a switch later to Don't Ask/Don't Tell which put in place a policy where an accusation had to be proven before a person was discharged. An accusation was still a black mark on one's personnel record, making it difficult to advance in the ranks. This policy was repealed in 2010 and homosexuality was officially no longer something that was a disciplinary matter. That's all real world stuff, and it _sucked_. It was unfair and unjust and just plain stupid.

Now, in the Marvel universe, there existed a man named Steve Rogers. He was a punky little shrimp obsessed with his best friend, James "Bucky" Barnes. Said shrimp manages to find a doctor willing to falsify documents to get him into boot for long enough to get him involved with a Top Secret experiment and the shrimp becomes Captain America, the Sentinel of Liberty & Dispenser of Justice! Only at the first hint of danger to Bucky, this fine example of military discipline goes AWOL to rescue him, and then later when Bucky dies, acts like a grieving widow. The brilliant minds in charge of military policy [dramatically coughs _"Phillips"_] do recognize that these are some pretty queer actions, but the guy's a national icon. They can't just discredit him while still trying to use him as a recruitment tool.

Thus the Bucky Exception was born. Military personnel can declare exactly one person not biologically or lawfully related to them, even if they are the same sex, with whom any actions directly related to them are not subject to scrutiny for "sexual impropriety". This person is called the service member's Bucky Exception (BE). This declaration _cannot_ be changed at a later date, even if the BE dies. In addition to looking the other way for physical intimacies, a service member gains a great deal of leeway concerning things like defying direct orders or otherwise breaking military protocol so long as certain other restrictions like property damage & lives endangered are kept. This is determined by review similarly to court martials. A lot of the time, the only benefit is that the pair is awarded the same considerations as spouses and not on the scale of misusing military resources in unauthorized rescue missions.

On a related note, a lot of BEs are not declared prior to there being an issue of some sort. That issue is usually getting caught in compromising positions or accusations of the same. The solution that a lot of military personnel use is to retroactively declare whoever they got caught with as their Bucky Exception, despite the strict limit on it, because it's either that or being discharged without honor.

Despite how things are between Tony & Rhodey, a lot of BEs are the romantic/sexual partner of their military person. There is continued support for BEs of fallen military personnel just like spouses and special therapy sessions geared towards helping BEs support their military person. However, this treatment does not extend to other benefits of military spouses such as expedited immigration paperwork, access to healthcare, or shared living stipends.


	2. The Jarvises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is an explanation of who the Jarvises were and things related to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're wanting more specifically about Tony's relationship with the Jarvises, my [Family Relations](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1106010) series covers that.

The show _Agent Carter_ introduced us to Edwin Jarvis and his wife Ana. Edwin Jarvis had been a pilot with the British Air Force during World War II. He was serving as a general's aide in Hungary when he met Ana. Edwin asked for legal papers for Ana to leave Hungary ahead of the Nazi forces, but he was denied. Rather than abandon the woman he had fallen in love with (despite only knowing her a few days), Edwin forged the general's name to the papers and personally smuggled Ana to England. For this crime, he was dishonorably discharged. 

However, the whole affair brought him to the attention of a certain genius millionaire who offered to take him on as his personal butler. Faced with no prospects and honestly admiring of the man, Edwin took Howard Stark up on his offer. He proceeded to be a devoted servant and just as devoted a husband. He is proud that his wife continued to practice her Jewish faith and heritage. It is never confirmed either way if Edwin was Jewish himself, though it was mentioned that he was part Turkish.

During season two of _Agent Carter_, we are also introduced to the concept of the Stark menagerie. We only two for certain that there's a flamingo who Edwin openly despises as manipulative and flashy and a koala whose adorableness is only rivaled by its ferociousness when it finally decides to fight. These rants visibly amuse Ana, which has the effect that Edwin tends to go even more exaggerated claims. It is not even the first time that Ana's emotional status has been Edwin's priority, as he flat out tells Peggy Carter that his duty to his wife is more important than her mission.

Ana is a seamstress with a scary competency with weapons. She is also Edwin's primary sparring partner as he trains to be better for the missions that he goes on with Peggy. Ana also has no jealousy over the close relationship that Edwin has with Peggy, not even when the two pose as dates to a gala. Not that she needs to be, because Edwin never looks at Peggy in a romantic way even when it's clear that he's addicted to the feelings associated with helping Peggy during missions. Her only hesitance came from finally realizing just how dangerous those missions were and even then, she didn't ask him to _stop_ because she recognized that he would be a different man than the one she loved if he could turn his back on those in need.

(That's a much needed breath fresh air in the MCU where it seems like every superhero's romantic partner has at least one bout of "it's being a superhero or being with me".)

After Ana is shot by Whitney Frost, Edwin proceeded to spiral emotionally. While most of Edwin's shown characterization is that of competent and emotional stable servant with a fair bit of flippancy, it is in the aftermath of this particular event where we are shown that his competency can also manifest as a ruthless protection of those he cares for. Front and center of that group is Ana. His concern over Ana losing the ability to carry children was not for his own loss but for the fact that he knew Ana had wanted them.

Ana and Edwin Jarvis were devoted to each other. If Edwin Jarvis was a prominent figure in Tony Stark's life (as is canon for the MCU just like other runs), then it stands to reason that Ana Jarvis was also just as present, if not more so. Since Ana Jarvis was openly Jewish, it follows that Tony likely had a lot of exposure to the Jewish culture even if he wasn't raised Jewish.


	3. Frequently Asked Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I get a lot of the same type of questions for this series, so I'm hoping to answer them here.

  * **How far do you plan on going with this series?**
    * I have solid plans for pieces through the events of Avengers. I also plan of filling out some of the still empty SI Era (pre-Phase 1) along with a few HP fics in roughly the same era. That being said, my Joyful One has officially requested both Harley Keener (of Phase 2) and Peter Parker (of Phase 3+) be added to the Aerie. There's also characters of similar eras that need to be added to the Aerie. So I will need to go at least that far.
  * **What is this "Aerie" you mentioned?**
    * Basically, this series is my self-indulgent excuse to get my precious favorites into one found family. Since an aerie is a safe place to nest, that is where I will put them all.
  * **Will Tony join the Avengers/SHIELD?**
    * The purpose of an aerie is to have a safe place. Part of making a place safe is keeping those who threaten that out of it. It also means keeping those members of the Aerie away from toxic people.
    * In the MCU, that means there's very few of those two groups who are redeemable. As of right now, the plan is those few redeemable people will join the Aerie, not the other way around.
  * **Will Tony & Rhodey ever get together?!**
    * There are no Iron Husbands in this series. We only have Iron Zucchinis. Enjoy the QPR. (See link in series description for more information on QPRs.)
  * **What ships do you have planned?**
    * A massive amount of dumbasses who find family & acceptance in each other. That's it. That's my ship plans.
  * **Is Harry an Obscurial?**
    * No. He is also not a Horcrux. And the shadows are not related to either his magic or his mutation.
  * **What is Harry's mutation?**
    * Harry sees memories when he touches skin to skin. He can also transfer memories to others. Sometimes the memory is just a scent or similar. Sometimes it's as fully fledged as a flashback. His control is marginal due to his age and degree of practice using it. If they are aware of it, others can use their own concentration to direct the ability or block it.
    * Beyond the limitation of control, his ability requires skin to skin to activate. It will also attempt to activate every time his skin is touched.
    * No, the shadows are not related to Harry's mutation.
  * **Does Harry still have magic?/Is he still going to learn magic?**
    * Harry does still have magic. He will still learn how to use that magic.
    * No, he will not be attending any wizarding school, _especially not Hogwarts_.
  * **Will Harry go to school?**
    * Harry will be educated and as need be, tutors will be available to him, but due to many factors, Harry will not be attending formal schooling until he is much older.
  * **Who are Tony's "kids"? (As of _Daedalus Bound_)**
    * In order of "birth": Dummy, "U"/Dumber, Butterfingers, JARVIS, IRIS, and ANA. The bots were all made while Tony was at MIT. JARVIS was created in the wake of Tony's relationship with Ty Stone. IRIS was specifically made to take care of Jenny's practice. ANA is nested with any Stark-related server and normally has minimal interactions with systems outside of SI/JARVIS.


End file.
